

/S/7 
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School Economies 



By 
FRANK M. RICH 



Baltimore 

WARWICK & YORK, Inc. 

1920 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 



By 

FRANK M. RICH 




BALTIMORE 

WARWICK & YORK, Inc. 
1920 



•?n5 



Copyright 1920 
By WARWICK & YORK. Inc. 



941 
I 






CONTENTS 

Introduction 7 

Heating 11 

The Stove Jacket 13 

Ventilation 16 

Toilets 21 

Lavatories 24 

The Care of Books 29 

Book Varnishing 31 

Book Mending 34 

Teachers 43 

Finding Good Teachers 52 

An Experiment in the Cooperative Registry of Teach- 
ers 55 

Supervision 60 

Parents' Associations 71 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
INTRODUCTION 

"There is that scattereth and yet increaseth," said the wise 
King Solomon. "There is that withholdeth more than is 
meet, but it tendeth to poverty." 

Being a wise old monarch, Solomon was not to be taken 
in by the kind of economy that pinches the sheckel till it 
spoils the inscription, and then has to let the battered metal 
go as scrap. 

Economy is not the art of spending less, but of realizing 
more; not of reducing investments, but of enlarging divi- 
dends. It is not getting along as best you can with what 
you have, but having what you can get along with best. 
Above all it is not the lose-at-the-bung policy of the typical 
rustic school board when they are penny-wise in paring 
down all expenses, and pound-foolish in squandering the 
public good. 

In the business world economy tends to regulate itself 
by a process of natural selection. Lost profits and wasted 
opportunities quietly drive the inefficient organization to 
the wall, while more thrifty and enterprising rivals capture 
the markets and reap the benefits. In commercial matters, 
therefore, economy needs no more eloquent defense than 
its own generous balances on the credit side of the account. 
But in government, church and school affairs the situation 
is somewhat different. The product cannot be measured 
in terms of the expenditure. It often requires some study 
and reflection to determine what true economy really is. 
Where one sows and another reaps, it is not surprising if 



8 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

some fields receive a rather scanty seeding. Unfortunatly, 
it often happens that the greater the need, and the more 
limited the resources, the less real economy is used. 

In all enterprises there is a point of diminishing returns — 
a place where the product begins to fall off in increasing 
ratio to the investment — till the fire is too small to heat the 
boiler, the power too weak to move the machinery, the stock 
too poor to attract customers, and the salaries too small to 
hold efficient workmen. Wherever the economist attempts 
to lower the investment much below the point of highest 
economy, his organization rapidly begins to peter out for 
lack of the means of healthy sustenance. 

The problem in school economy, like the problem of the 
economist in any system, is to keep as close as possible 
to this point of diminishing returns — the place where greater 
expenditure would fail to produce proportionally greater 
results, and where any further retrenchment would be loss 
rather than gain. 

Whatever else a school system has to do without, there 
are three essentials that cannot profitably be surrendered : — 

(i) Competent instruction, 

(2) Adequate appliances, 

(3) Conditions making for decency, comfort and 
health ; 

in other words : capable teachers, respectable books and 
furniture and effective sanitation, ventilation and heat. 
Any economy that sacrifices these elements is false econ- 
omy — "muzzling the ox that treadeth out the corn.'' 

The problem of furnishing good teachers and building up 
the equipment in a run-down system where taxes are high 
and tax-payers apathetic is not altogether easy. It re- 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 9 

quires a very respectable amount of political ability to 
make a hard pressed community realize that the same pinch 
of sacrifice that the average family has to endure in raising 
and educating its children falls to the lot of the district as 
a whole, if it is to do its duty by the generation coming on. 
And yet, the need for funds even in the poorest neighbor- 
hoods is seldom so pressing as the need for intelligent in- 
terest and wise control. As Jonathan Swift said : a man that 
can make two blades of grass or two ears of corn grow 
where but one grew before is worth a world of politicians. 
No one who is in earnest in his wish to make good schools of 
poor ones need utterly despair because funds are low. The 
conditions that any school man has to face, when, in an 
unguarded imoment, he has accepted the generosity of the 
citizens in appointing him to make up, single-handed, for 
the generations of neglect and indifference of his predeces- 
sors, will hardly be worse, financially or educationally, than 
those that confronted the writer as district superintendent 
in three of the poorest unions of Vermont, Massachusetts 
and New Hampshire. The devices worked out here under 
necessity's maternal guidance are offered in the hope that 
they may help others in a similar situation. 

The problems we set to work upon are the problems of 
poor schools everywhere: to make the old stoves heat the 
rooms evenly and comfortably; to provide effective venti- 
lation in all weathers; to render washing and drinking 
facilities sanitary; to clean up the unspeakable outside 
closets, and make them stay so ; to restore tattered books to 
usable condition, and make them dirt, ink and water-proof 
for the future; to replace the old hit-or-miss, try-'em-a- 
while methods of hiring teachers, and institute a system 



IO SCHOOL ECONOMIES 



that guarantees the best teachers available for the salary- 
offered ; in general, to make the old school house do its full 
duty in a toned up and awakened community without resort- 
ing to charity and without asking the tax payers for more 
than they are able and willing to pay. 



HEATING 

The first step in bettering school conditions is to make 
teachers and pupils physically comfortable. No one who 
has spent a winter morning in a poor white's school house 
needs any flight of rhetoric to picture the difficulties under 
which the inmates are trying to teach or study. Good work 
is alike impossible for the group shivering in the corners, 
or for the others scorching in a ring about the stove. 

Unless the school is singularly fortunate, the fire is built 
by a boy janitor shortly before the time for school to begin. 
In desperate haste he heaps the stove with fuel and turns 
on all drafts to get as quick a fire as possible. In a few 
minutes he has a stove unbearably hot in a room still un- 
comfortably cold. The trouble is not in the amount of 
heat, but in the uneveneess with which it is distributed. 
If the heat that is blistering the paint on the ceiling could be 
brought down to warm the chilled limbs of the pupils, all 
would soon be comfortable. 

It is a well known fact that a close room heats more 
quickly if the windows are opened for a moment when the 
fire is started. This seeming paradox is explained by the 
fact that the air set in motion by an outside breeze con- 
tinues in motion for a long time, mixing cold and warm 
currents till the whole room is even and comfortable. On 
the other hand when a fire is started in stagnant air, a hot 
draft rises and lies in a blistering layer along the ceiling, 
while a sluggish icy stratum reimains for hours along the 
floor. The little heat that would be lost by opening a 
window could profitably be sacrificed for a breeze that 



12 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

would mix these layers and make the heat at the top avail- 
able for use in the bottom of the room. The secret of 
comfort and economy in heat lies in even distribution. 

The poorest method of heat is by radiation, as when one 
sits before an open fire, and roasts his face and freezes his 
back, while what little warm air there is floats away up the 
chimney. The best method of heat is by convection, or the 
circulation of warm breezes throughout the atmosphere. 
The stove in a room heats partly by convection and partly 
by radiation. To improve the system, the radiation needs 
to be eliminated and this heat turned toward increasing the 
circulation. Hence the purpose of the stove jacket, or 
casing, which partly surrounds the stove, cuts off the heat 
that beats into the faces of nearby pupils, and uses it to 
warm the larger volume of air that circulates around it. 
The jacket, of course, cannot create any heat, neither can it 
destroy any. It merely serves to cut off some of the heat 
where it is not wanted and transfers it to the moving air 
where is is needed much indeed. The comforts of a stove- 
jacket are not merely theoretical. The moment one is in- 
stalled the improvemnt is apparent, in a temperature many 
degrees cooler near the stove and several degrees warmer 
in distant parts of the room. The stove is by all odds the 
simplest and most economical form of heat for a rural 
building, and if provided with a jacket and proper atten- 
tion given to ventilation, there is no reason why it should 
not be entirely satisfactory. 



THE STOVE JACKET 

The writer has experimented with a number of home- 
made jackets, and while all did the work and answered the 
purpose, it took some time to evolve one that was not 
flimsy, noisy or unsightly, and yet could be made by any- 
body out of easily found material. The result is a jacket 
of medium light sheet iron on a frame of iron piping and 
lined with heavy asbestos sheathing or light asbestos mill 
board. 

The iron frame, constructed of i inch iron pipe and mal- 
leable railing fittings, should be 6 to 8 inches larger than 
the stove all around. The one shown here, intended for a 
box-pattern wood stove, consists of 

4 lengths of pipe, I foot more than the length of the stove. 

3 lengths of pipe, I foot (more than the width of the stove. 

4 lengths of pipe, the same size as the height of the stove. 
4 long — 3 or 4 inch nipples ; 

all the above threaded right and left. 

4 side opening elbows — 2 threaded right, and 2 left. 

2 side opening tees — 1 threaded right, and 1 left. 

2 plain tees, 1 threaded right and 1 left. 

4 floor flanges, 2 threaded right and 2 left 
with screws for the flanges. 

As the joints do not have to be water or steam tight, a 
left hand tap, in case of necessity, can be run through a 
right hand thread and it will screw up tight and make a 
good job. 

The covering of black sheet iron is in three pieces, — a 
back and two sides. The front is left open for convenience. 
The pieces are cut the size of the spaces inside the frame, 



14 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

with 6 inch flaps on all sides to wrap around the frame and 
fasten with stove bolts, through holes drilled in the sheet 
metal 6 inches or so apart, just inside the frame. 

The right and left flaps of the back piece cannot, of course, 
be wrapped around the same pipe that has already been used 
for the flaps of the side pieces ; and this method of fastening 
is unnecessary, as these flaps can be bent over against the 
side flaps and the same holes and bolts run through to 
fasten the two. 

The asbestos lining should be cut the same size as the 
three sheet metal pieces, minus the flaps. It can be stuck to 
the metal with linseed oil varnish before the imetal is fast- 
ened to the frame, and then made doubly secure when flaps 
are bolted. When built, all metal parts should be given a 
coat of fireproof paint or enamel for appearance sake and 
to prevent rust. 

A little work and expense can be saved by omitting the 
rail at the bottom of the frame, screwing the floor flanges 
directly to the legs, turning out a flange of sheet metal an 
inch wide at the lower edge and nailing it directly to the 
floor. A foot or so of the back piece would need to be 
folded up from the floor to leave a space for sweeping and 
for circulation of air. Such a jacket is inconvenient to move 

A jacket for a round coal stove is similar to the box-stove 
in case the stove is put away for the summer, but otherwise 
is satisfactory. 

jacket except that the horizontal rails have to be bent in a 
quarter circle, the front rail left out entirely, and 4 tees, 2 
crosses and two elbows substituted in place of the fittings 
listed above. 



VENTILATION 

Along with the heating problem comes the problem of 
ventilation. For centuries men have known that fresh air 
was healthful, and stale air dangerous ; but only in recent 
years have they come to regard ventilation as a life and 
death affair. In the old days builders of halls and school 
houses generally provided the rooms with a spice box cover, 
where the foul air was supposed to got out whenever it 
wanted to. As no one ever tested these contrivances, and 
as the victims seldom died on the premises, the will for the 
deed was held to be sufficient. 

But mere good intentions as a ventilating device compares 
strongly with its reputed use as a paving material. With 
further light on the ventilation question inspectors began to 
demand something more scientific than a mere register, and 
the reign of the patent ventilating systems began. On paper, 
at least, these all worked to perfection. Neat little squadrons 
of arrows swept around with unerring accuracy, never mix- 
ing, nor getting in each other's path. But when the test 
came in actual practice, and one stepped into the crowded 
schoolroom from the fresh outside air, it was plain that 
some of the arrows must have gone astray. 

When we come to think about it, the reason is not hard 
to understand. Gravity systems are bound to be slow and 
unreliable. To attempt to move a great volume of air 
through a narrow pipe by heating it, is like trying to raise 
freight with a hot air balloon. Some mechanical means 
like the fan is the only thing that will move a great weight 
of air through a flue. 



SCHOOL ECONOMICS iy 

In our day another generation of prophets have arisen, 
who decry the patent ventilator, and advance the revolution- 
ary theory that air is not fresh unless it smells fresh and 
feels fresh, and claim to have demonstrated that window 
ventilation is the only practical ventilation after all. This is 
good news from the standpoint of economy, for the mere 
lowering of a window is a cheap opening to make. 

A little computation shows clearly how effective window 
ventilation really is. A window of ordinary width lowered 
4 inches on two sides of a room with a 10 mile breeze blow- 
ing through, in an hour's time lets in a square foot shaft 
of air 10 miles long — in other words, 52,800 cu. ft., nearly a 
thousand cubit feet a minute. A fan or stack heater would 
have to "go some" to do the work of two or three windows 
like this. The objection to window ventilation is, of course, 
the danger of drafts and uneven heating and the annoyance 
of blowing papers and flapping curtains. This can be 
effectively overcome by means of the device shown in the 
diagram. 

This consists of a pair of long curtain fixtures made of J4 
inch band iron, 1 inch wide, attached to the upper sash of 
the window. When the sash is lowered, the curtain comes 
down with it, leaving the open space clear, instead of al- 
lowing the wind to flap the curtain, and be directed down- 
ward upon the pupils underneath. One diagram shows a long 
fixture that sets the curtain well out beyond the casing, and 
permits the use of a curtain considerably wider than the 
window. Where the curtains are narrow enough to go inside 
the casing, the shorter fixture is sufficient, though it will need 
to be long enough to set the curtain out beyond the lower sash. 
§uch a curtain is not a good one for a schoolroom, however, 



l8 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

as there is always likely to be a space at the side for sun- 
light to come through, and this is sure to annoy somebody. 

As we pointed out above, a cool breeze blowing into the 
top of a stove heated room does not necessarily mean a low- 
ering of the temperature of the main part of the room, as 
it mixes with the hot air and brings it nearer the floor. 
Ventilation, then, (may be a saving of heat rather than a 
profligate attempt "to heat all outdoor. " To ventilate suc- 
cessfully it is necessary for the teacher to keep an eye on 
the direction of the wind, opening the upper sash on the 
side where the wind is blowing in, and the lower sash where 
the wind is blowing out. Complete circulation requires an 
outlet as well as an inlet. 

For the highest economy and efficiency in heat and ven- 
tilation there is an advantage in having the window open- 
ing covered with cheese cloth. The cheese cloth tempers the 
strength of the incoming current, provides a better mixing 
of cold air with warm and prevents considerable escape of 
heat from the room by radiation. Cheese cloth, in spite of 
its open texture, is said to be warmer, foot for foot, than 
glass. 

For these reasons the cheese cloth curtain illustrated on 
the opposite page is worth consideration. 

The regular curtain is supported on fixtures the same as 
those described above. A wooden bar of light half inch 
stuff connects the two fixtures. A curtain of cheese cloth 
comes down from a roller attached to the casing, passes 
over this bar and is attached with thumb tacks to the sash. 
A bit of solder is placed on the cam of the cheese cloth rol- 
ler to prevent the roller from hitching as a curtain ordi- 




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20 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

narily does. The spring keeps the cheese cloth taut, and it 
winds and unwinds automatically as the upper sash is raised 
or lowered. 



TOILETS 

Sanitary negkict in country schoolhouses reaches its cli- 
max in the outside closets. Conditions in ancient prisons, 
or among soldiers in the trenches, or pigs in a pig sty are 
not worse than what the writer has seen in school out- 
houses. How utterly inconsistent to spend hundreds of 
dollars in one part of the property to promote a hypotheti- 
cal culture, while in another part of the same plant, within 
smell if not within sight, pupils are forced into daily prac- 
tice in personal filth, and too often foul language on the walls, 
and moral leprosy in the atmosphere, for the lack of a few 
cents spent in the interests of cleanliness and common 
decency. 

The boys' toilets are always worst, not because boys are 
naturally nastier than girls, but because it is impossible for 
boys to use the same seat both for stool and urinal with 
any degree of cleanliness. The separate urinal without run- 
ning water and constant care is objectionable. The seats are 
frequently used for this purpose, and then there is trouble. 
The worst conditions can be cleaned up immediately and 
kept so by simply providing the closets with spring seats 
that turn up out of the way when not actually in use, leav- 
ing the whole space at other times open for use as a urinal. 

The form here given is easily made and installed. The 
shape is somewhat different from those generally used, but 
the change in pattern makes it easier to construct, more 
substantial in use and easier to keep clean than the more 
common form. 

It should be made of hard wood, put together with long 
screws, should be covered with spar varnish or waterproof 



22 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

paint, and fastened to a cleat on the back of the building 
with brass spring screen door hinges. Two hinges are gen- 
erally enough to make the seat tip gently up when the pres- 
sure that holds it down is removed. In placing hinges it is 
always important to have them in exact alignment, for if 
the spindles are not in the same straight line they either 
wear lose or work with difficulty. 

Having the whole top of the vault open makes it easy for 
the janitor to put in a light sprinkling of sand or ashes daily. 
This must be done regularly to keep earth closets sanitary. 
There is no better place than the closet for the winter's ashes, 
if the vaults are built deep enough to receive them. This 
not only gets them out of the playground but turns them to 
good account as deodorizer and disinfectant. 

Earth closets, cleaned every few weeks and sanded daily, 
can be made as respectable and healthful as water closets, 
with none of the annoyances of freezing pipes and disorder- 
ed plumbing. But the old filth reeking abomination, which is 
still the rule rather than the exception where earth closets 
are employed, is too expensive in health and morals to be 
tolerated, whatever a better one may cost. Its abolishment 
is unquestionably one of the highest economies a board can 
put into practice. 




Fastened to cleat with spring mn&es 
S/WIT/W SEW FOR EWTO CLOSETS ' 



LAVATORIES 

Where there is no running water the unsanitary school 
toilet is usually accompanied by corresponding neglect in 
washing and drinking facilities. While the lavatory is more 
directly under the teacher's observation, experience shows 
that, as a rule, it does not receive much better care, unless 
special emphasis is placed upon it. The almost universal cam- 
paign against the common drinking cup has done much to 
eliminate this nuisance. The rusty, slimy old dipper, loaded 
with bacteria, is fast going out of fashion, and the same fate 
should meet the water pail and festering tank. The pail is 
unfit for anything but waste water. It is sloppy to carry and 
the wide mouth catches germ-laden dust from clothing, 
from the air and from sweepings. The painted tank with 
its faucet and cover looks more sanitary than the pail, but 
in practice it is sometimes even less so, for it is less likely 
to be washed and scalded; and after all the water is no 
cleaner than the pail it is poured from, and that frequently 
stands open-mouthed all day to catch dust from the time it 
is used till the next time. 

The best water vessel for a schoolhouse is a small size 
covered garbage can, provided with a small rubber or gas 
tubing described below. It is easy to clean and easy to carry. 
It has a cover to prevent contamination and spilling. There 
is no tendency for the pupils to put their own cups into the 
general supply. The cans are substantially made and heavily 
galvanized to withstand hard usage. It can be made self- 
cooling without ice. Even at the present high price of such 
ware it need cost but little over a dollar. 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 2$ 

Cut off the handle of the cover with tin snips or file ; bend 
in the top to make it concave instead of convex, so that, 
when turned upside down, as it will stand when in use, there 
will be no tendency to rock. Drill a hole in the bend near 
the cover and solder in a metal nipple if rubber tube is used, 
or else a foot of flexible galvanized gas tubing, with a short 
heavy rubber connection at the end. Trim the rubber straight 
across, even with the end of the metal, and you have a bub- 
bler as good as any. Make a hook of copper or brass wire 
with which to hang up the bubbler on the edge of the cover. 

Bore a couple of vent holes near the wire rim at the 
mouth of the can, and two more an inch and a half from 
the rim. Fill the can; put on the cover; reverse it quickly, 
and scarcely a drop will spill. Water in the pan will rise 
to the level of the second vent holes ; no higher, unless the 
can is tipped. Set the tank on a shelf not higher than the 
smallest child's head. Provide a wash basin and waste pail 
underneath. Simply lowering the bubbler an inch or two be- 
low the water in the pan gives a sufficient flow of water. 
Waste from the fountain, if run into the basin, will provide 
water for washing. A clean towel or piece of cheese cloth tied 
around the tank, with one edge immersed in the water of 
the basin, will cool the tank by evaporation from I to 12 
degrees, depending upon the humidity of the air from day 
to day. 

To reverse the tank to refill, it is necessary either to draw 
off the remaining water, or take the tank to a place where 
a little spilled water does not count, for if reversed with the 
cover on, the water in the outside edge is bound to come out. 
Children will need to be instructed to avoid putting their 
lips directly on this or any other bubbler. 



26 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 



A good wash bench can be made by screwing a set of box. 
desk irons on a plain board. A cheap tissue paper, or regular 
paper toweling is almost a necessity in every school. Chil- 
dren need to play on the playground. They need also to 
handle books and stationery. Proper washing facilities are 
the only means or reconciling the two. If paper towelling is 
out of the question, at least old newspapers can be brought. 
If immersed in water and then dried again to remove the 
glaze, they absorb moisture from the flesh fairly well. 



THE CARE OF BOOKS 

The old saying about a stitch in time is nowhere better 
illustrated than in the care of books. A book is like a gar- 
ment: fully half of its usefulness is lost if it is allowed to 
fall apart and go to waste for lack of the few minutes it 
takes to keep it in serviceable condition. A large proportion 
of text book money could be spent for improvements if a 
few simple, effective means of repairing books were more 
generally known and used. 

Book mending is not hard to learn, nor to teach to others^ 
though not one teacher or librarian in a hundred knows the 
first thing about it. With the right method even the worst- 
books can be made presentable in a few minutes, and almost 
as sound as new. The whole of the work is within the abil- 
ity of the more careful of the upper grade pupils, and a 
good share of it can even be done by the littlest ones. It is 
good manual training, good economy and good ethics. But 
right materials and right methods are essential, for a little 
bad work is unquestionably worse than none at all. 

The first "stitch in time" should be taken while the book 
is still new, to keep the outside from wear, and protect it 
from stains and dirt. Book covers of heavy paper are widely 
used and they have done good service, but they cost consid- 
erable, are slow to put on ; they hide the distinctive, attractive 
bindings that add so much to the charm of the book, and 
they are not proof against rainwater and ink. Infinitely bet- 
ter in every way is a coat of floor varnish which is 
soil-, germ-, ink-, and water proof, and adds to rather than 
detracts from the appearance of the book. An active begin- 



30 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

ner can cover 100 books in an hour and will use only about 
a pint of varnish ; which makes the cost in time and material 
considerably less than for ready made paper covers. 



BOOK VARNISHING 

The outfit for varnishing should be a good rubberset 2 J/2 
or 3 in. brush that will not shed bristles, a pan for varnish, 
with steep sides just high enough to hold the brush upright 
without touching the handle, a string, wire or stick fastened 
across the top of the pan to drain the brush against, a little 
turpentine for cleaning hands, pan and brushes, a light 
board of convenient length, to serve as a tray for carrying 
varnished books, and a quantity of paper to spread down 
under books while they are drying. 

From the start, the worker may as well look for a method 
that will be neat and quick and cut down false motions to 
the minimum. Grasp the book by the pages and hold it back 
up, horizontally, with the left hand inside the covers. Dip 
the brush half the length of the bristles and scrape off run- 
ning varnish on the string, wire or stick provided for the 
purpose. Start in the middle of the back of the book and 
paint toward the outside edges and corners ; never the re- 
verse, or a brushful of varnish will be scraped into the 
covers. 

When one side is done, turn the wrist and paint the other 
side, without setting down book or brush. As in painting any- 
thing else, the varnish must be spread thinly and evenly and 
well brushed out with some pressure or the varnish will crawl 
or run. When the book is done, set the brush upright 
against the side of the pan, and place the book, back up, on the 
tray, with the covers slightly open, so that it will not be likely 
to tip over. When the tray is full, books can be transferred 
to the papers on the floor or shelves to dry. In handling 



32 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

while wet, place the fingers on each side of the book near 
the back, and lift without touching the varnish. 

Let the books remain undisturbed for 24 hours or longer. 
They should not be piled one upon another for several days, 
but may be set up in rows, in the usual manner. Old books 
will probably need to be varnished twice before they look 
bright and glossy all over. Pasteboard covers with no cloth 
covering will need special care, or they are likely to be 
streaked, where different parts of the surface absorb var- 
nish unevenly. The wearing qualities of all covers, even 
paper, are improved by this treatment. The longer it is 
used, the more favorable the user will be toward it. 



-Turpen- fl 
?tine f (\ 

Pan and | 

Brush 



Spar or Floor 
^st**-. Varnish 




Turn the Hand 
r^\ without 

Setting 
the Book 
Down 



Keep hooks 
ink-, dirt-, 
and moist- 
ure proof by 
giving them a coat 
of spar or floor varnish. 
Cheaper than book covers, and quicker and easier' 
to apply 



BOOK MENDING 

It is unwise to throw away books, even those that look 
hopeless. A little skill and patience will do wonders toward 
putting them back into usable condition, and even when too 
bad for repair themselves, they can be used to patch the rest. 

A complete book mending outfit consists of a pair ot long 
sharp shears, cheese cloth for backing and for wiping glue, 
dress lining or crafts paper for patching (ready made book 
covers, new or old, cut up into good patches) a large can of 
the best liquid glue, a tooth brush for spreading glue, a 
pickle bottle for soaking brush, raffia needles, white thread, 
coarse sandpaper for removing glue, fine sandpaper for re- 
moving ink spots, a rubber eraser for removing pencil marks, 
and a supply of the transparent, gummed mending tissue 
sold by all school supply houses. Mucilage and library paste 
are useless and gummed cloth even worse than that. 

The first step is to have pupils look over books, arrange 
loose pages in their proper order, straighten out all folds 
and dog ears, however small, paste little pieces of trans- 
parent mending tissue on all tears across print and erase 
pencil marks with a rubber and ink marks with fine sand- 
paper whenever it can be done without injury to print. 
Missing pages should be located, and a strip of paper in- 
serted with the number of the missing page protruding so 
that it can be seen at a glance. One or two old books may 
have to be used to supply missing parts of the others, and 
the paper strips show which ones can be used to best ad- 
vantage. Pages torn out of the binding should not be stuck 
in with transparent paper. In most cases the difficulty needs 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 35 

to be remedied by rebuilding, or if not, the torn edge of the 
page can be drawn across the glue brush and the tiny 
thread of glue will serve to keep the page in place. 

The method of repairing a badly worn book will depend 
somewhat on the way it is bound. School books are of two 
general types — sewed bindings and stitched. Sewing and 
stitching are not synonymous in bookbinding. Both sewed 
and stitched books consist of a number of pamphlets or 
"signatures" sewed together and attached to a piece of 
cloth, which, in turn, is glued to the board covers. The dif- 
ference is that, in the sewed books, each folded signature 
is sewed separately through the middle of its fold, then 
glued at the back to a single strip of cloth ; while in the 
stitched books, all the signatures are piled up, with a strip 
of cloth on the top and another on the bottom and the whole 
fastened together with one lineof heavy wire or cord stitching, 
a quarter inch or so from the edge of the folds. Sewed books 
open readily and lie open at any place, but stitched books 
are firm and unyielding. 

As the stitched book wears out, the cloth strips separate 
from the board covers, the stitching ravels from top and bot- 
tom, and the cloth covering frays out at back and corners. 
In the sewed book, the signatures come loose from the cloth 
backing, or the backing from the boards, signatures tear 
apart into separate pages, and the cloth covering gets more 
or less dilapidated. 

By mending a bad sample of both kinds, we shall havt 
covered all the problems of book mending. Here is an 
old primer — a stitched book in the last stages of dilapida- 
tion. One cover is off, the other only hanging by a thread 
of the covering. Except for a couple of loose stitches, the 



36 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

pages have separated from each other and from the cloth 
strips. The book looks hopeless perhaps, but after a little 
practice one can easily restore a dozen or more of the.se an 
hour. 

The first step is to replace the stitching. Put 6 or 8 
strands of thread through the blunt pointed raffia needle. 
Push the needle from the front of the book to the back 
through the old holes in the cloth strips and pages previously 
made by the stitching machine. Bind the cloth strips and 
the pages firmly together by tying the thread as shown in 
the diagram. 

Usually one stitch at the top and one at the bottom is 
sufficient, but more can easily be put in if necessary. Use 
needles, one at each end of the thread, to avoid pushing the 
needle from the back to front, as the needle goes through 
the hole readily only in the one direction. 

When the stitching has been replaced, the cloth strips 
should be glued to the board covers, the glue being applied 
to the stiff board surface rather than to the flexilbe cloth. 
When tightly pressed and thoroughly rubbed, the book is 
now sound except for the loose and torn cloth covering. 
This is mended the same whether the book is sewed or 
stitched. Have a rectangular patch of cloth or paper cut 
large enough to cover the back of the book with an inch 
or so on each side to lap under. Peel the covering back from 
the board covers a little more than an inch, using the scis- 
ors if necessary at the edges. 

Cover the exposed back and boards with glue. Replace 
the cloth covering and rub down thoroughly. This is the 
neatest and easiest way to spread glue on the flimsy covering. 
Peel the flaps of the covering back again immediately. In- 



38 SCHOOL MIES 



sert the cloth or pape . Rub down this patch smoothly 

with a moist cloth. Then stick down the cloth covering. The 
result is a neat patch under the rents in the covering. Any 
superfluous glue can be wiped from the outside of the book 
with the moist cloth. Ragged eiges can be trimmed now or 
] ater. The bo stnrbed till I e has 

hard 

A stitched bock tl g soring or even 

one thai is still s strengthened wit! 

Dg a thread through the binding the same a^ 
:: taking the book to pieces. Open 
ver and : needle through the first needle 

near the edge 0: the | ages. 

en the other cover and draw the needle out As near 
as possible to where the needle comes .:: rake a st 

gl the doth covering dose ring- 

ing the thread out near the the covers. 

S v the thread bad rting place, taking up a I 

ivering near the tdg^ of the pages, back and 
then front; then down through the 1 j> I the fro 

re the thread can be tied to the first end. A little glue 
should be knot, and cover and pages will be 

firmly :;r:-ned with the one loop of inconspicuous oiread. 
If this is done at both ends of the binding it will dc 
life of a stitched book. 
X :ov let us try ::\z : : r. sewed books. — a history, 

instance — where the contents has come loose from the 
binding, and many of the pages are torn separate. The fast 
rl the whole book separate from the cover. If the 
binding is not spoiled in the process and is still firmly 
ners. i: is :::lv neeessar 



40 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

off the rough glue from it with a folded strip of sandpaper, 
and glue the book back into it when the book is made ready. 
If the backing is torn or weak, however, it will need to be 
stripped loose from the board covers. In doing this, if the 
paper lining of the cover is scored with the points of the 
scissors, the backing will tear off more easily. 

The pages of the coverless book are now jogged absolutely 
cren and the back thoroughly sandpapered. This takes off 
the roughness of the old glue, and enables the new glue to 
penetrate to the loose pages and find a solid surface to stick 
to. 

Jog the pages even again and cover the back with glue, 
rubbing it well in with a toothbrush. 

If a new backing has to be used, cut it as nearly as pos- 
sible the size of the old one. Place it evenly on the glued 
surface and rub down thoroughly with the moist cloth. 
Spread glue on the board covers w T here the old backing 
was peeled off. Lay the book into the covers, bringing the 
edge of the pages absolutely even with the edge of the 
paper cover lining. 

Put the glued edge of the cover carefully in place on the 
cloth backing and rub the whole back firmly and thoroughly. 
See that the book is perfect in shape, and remains so, under 
weight until the glue is thoroughly dry. If proper care is 
taken any book rebound in this way ought to look like a 
similar sound book in its original binding. A little pains 
taken to get edges absolutely even will make this easily 
possible. 

By far the most difficult task in book mending is that of 
undoing the bad work of others — the fruits of those repair 
epidemics, when in the joy of approaching vacation, some 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 41 

teacher with confirmed optimism and a liberal supply of 
library paste, gummed paper, gummed cloth and patent bind- 
ers has turned a bevy of excited children loose upon the books 
with the laconic direction to "fix" them. There is great 
joy but little system. Pages are irrevocably fastened together, 
a quarter or even half and inch out of alignment. Useless, 
ungainly hinges of tape, tissue, and binders are applied in 
fanciful ways, until at last a crazy product results, too 
weak to hold together, and too firmly stuck ever to be 
taken entirely apart. 

After an experience of several years in rebinding thous- 
ands of worn out text books, the author gives it as his un- 
qualified opinion that gummed tape, tissue, paste and muci- 
lage are worse than useless on book bindings. Nothing but 
the strongest glue will hold. The tissue has but one use — 
to mend tears across the print, not pages torn out of the 
binding. The patent tape binders, advertised so generally, 
look interesting, and it seems a pity to say anything against 
an article manufactured for such a laudable purpose, but, 
alas, there is no way of mending the interior of a book by 
sticking something to the outside. 

Even when binders, paste, mucilage, tape, tissue and flour 
gravy have been made to do their worst, the case is still not 
entirely hopeless. The first thing is to undo as much of the 
old work as possible without tearing the pages too badly. 
Pages that have been very tightly stuck together would 
better not be disturbed even though they are badly out of 
alignment; but tape, etc. should be removed. Take off the 
cover and jog up the pages as well as possible. Then place 
the uncovered book on a block or crayon box turned bot- 



42 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

torn up, and with the cover of the box placed on the book 
as a straight edge, prepare to file off the protruding edges 
with a coarse file or wood rasp. Holding the book and box 
cover firmly — also your breath and your temper, for it is 
dusty work — make the edges of the book clean and uniform. 
The dust that settles is the sins of the fathers descending 
npon a second generation of bookmenders. When the edges 
are even the book is ready for rebinding. 



TEACHERS 

The most vital factor in the whole problem of school 
economy lies in the choice and retention of capable teachers. 
The quality of equipment beyond what is reasonably safe 
and necessary is as nothing compared with the quality of 
mind and character that is brought into immediate, hourly 
contact with the minds and characters of the children. The 
teacher's clearness of thought, breadth of intrest and whole- 
someness of spirit, or his muddled ideas, narrow views and 
peevish, vindictive disposition are alike communicated to 
his charges. A poor teacher, like a poor egg y is a bad in- 
vestment at any price. 

The value of teachers' services ranges all the way from 
plus 100% to minus 100%, or wholly good to wholly bad ; 
and the price paid often bears surprisingly little relation 
to the service rendered. Many an ideal instructor is giving 
years of invaluable service for a mere pittance, while not a 
few are getting a good living for doing the community ir- 
reparable harm. The teaching profession has always at- 
tracted more than a fair share of incompetents — the lazy, 
the impractical, those at a loss to know how else to make 
a living with their schooling. On the other hand, there are 
many of singular high pupose and devotion. The board 
that can weed out the misfits, and attract and keep only 
competent teachers, or at least make their responsibilities 
and salaries proportional to their abilities, has a tremen- 
dous advantage from an economic point of view. 

Unfortunately there is no labor saving device for finding 
out just what a teacher's work is worth. Only the most 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 



painstaking survey will give a fair estimate of the relative 
efficiency of a school. To resort to hearsay evidence and snap 
judgment — to pounce upon some little detail such as a par- 
ent's impression, a moment's conversation,, a pupil's report, 
a closing exercise — or to act upon a miraculous sixth sense 
that certain asinine dictators imagine themselves possessed 
of, is almost criminal. Xor indeed is the common practice 
of rating teachers according to experience or examination 
marks or professional courses hardly more defensible. 
Knowing and doing are very different matters. Getting 
marks in examination and keeping a school at top notch ef- 
ficiency have no necessary connection. Instead of granting 
regular yearly increases for length of service, in the ma- 
jority of cases it would actually be fairer justice to cut down 
salaries according to a regular schedule; for, with no dis- 
paragement of the exceptional few who go from strength 
to strength, the majority in the teaching field, unless kept 
up by something more than their own initiative, after the 
first two or three years steadily decline in energy, interest 
and idealism, without acquiring mechanical ability enough 
to offset the loss. A regular annual decrease would be a 
fairer policy in the majority of cases than the indiscrimi- 
nate annual increases are. But as a matter of fact, neither- 
one is right. Teachers should be paid in proportion to their 
demonstrated ability, whether more than, less than, or equal 
to w^hat they got the year before. It takes a little time and 
pains, of course, to find out accurately what a teacher's 
work is worth, but if it is good economy for the scientific 
farmer to spend time keeping a careful record of the 
product of every cow and field and fowl in order to know 
just which ones are yielding a profit — in short, if there is 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 45 

anything in scientific management as opposed to rule of 
thumb methods in any productive enterprise, it cannot be 
bad economy for the school board to take equally pains- 
taking measures to estimate with accuracy the returns in- 
dividual teachers are making in exchange for the salaries 
they receive. 

As a help in determining the relative efficiency of a school, 
an inspection blank, or card, similar to one that the writer 
has used for several years, is suggested here. At each reg- 
ular inspection one of these is made out in duplicate, one 
copy left with the teacher after being frankly discussed and 
perhaps corrected with him, and the other half kept on file 
for reference. While improvements may suggest them- 
selves, this one covers with reasonable thoroughness the 
points to be considered in rating a school and is unquestion- 
ably an improvement over the unmethodical, hit-or-miss vis- 
its by board or superintendent. 

The use of such a blank necessitates long, half-day visits. 
The superintendent cannot breeze into a school now and 
then for ten minutes and make a report that will do justice. 
The teacher on his part will have to plan his work daily, 
and keep the program of lessons for each day and the writ- 
ten work accompanying for the periodical inspection. For- 
mal examinations of the pupils will become a part, but only 
a minor part, of the total rating. 

By this system poor work is imade immediately apparent, 
not only to the inspector but to the teacher himself. When 
a teacher is unable or unwilling to do good, all-around work, 
he is brought face to face with his own incompetency. Us- 
ually he does not wait to be pried out of the position, but 
of his own accord seeks another occupation where he can 
earn a greater measure of satisfaction and success. 



tf 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 



7; the capable teacher and the one who is able be gi 

such a survey is a source :: satisfaction end honest pride. 
He 5 not left in doubt as to whether anybody appreci ates 
the labor he is putting into the :rk No amount of per- 
func: praise compares with a discriminating estimate 

that reports "weighed and not found wanting/' For the 
young teacher such 2 re::r: is a continual course in normal 
sc;:o:i. 

When as is so:::e:i:::es the ease, i: beec:::es necessary to 
remove a teacher, i: helps :: remove some of the feeling of 
unfairness and iii will on the one side, and of uncertainty 
:•:: the other. :: have .1 series :: these honest, s ystematic 
surveys of the work :: fall back ;:;:::. 

Twc crrirs of the outline are given here — one blank, the 
other fulled out :: iescribe conditions in a "maximum" 
school. 



Visit :: 

: — AFFEA] 

Grounds 
Lava: : ry 
Sweeoing 
_ emperature 



5:'.;; ; '. _ i:e 



.::::::: 



z .or physical ::::: 
Flag 

I usring 
Ventilation 
^ames :-.:: : :al:s:r. 



:i :hz school. 

Closers 

Waste and fuel 

I e-: or a tier. 



II— a::i: : 



-_:se: :ce 
-: zrirr. 



_ aitliiiess 
Plan book 



Rr:::: cards 
Other reports 

III — SCHOLASTIC WORK . ;; .-.: A : IGgMENl :? OLLPILS. 



rral writing 

A;; lie: -rawing 
C ral re;r: ii :::::*. 
Aoplied z-zrr.~r.i7 



Writing lessens Drawing lessons 

General spelling Spelling lessons 

lltrr.zrizii ;:e:ns. e::. Dictation 

7:rn:al grammar Hand work 



c 

00 


o 

p 




•1 


5 £ 


5* 

OP? 


Letter 
writing 
and com- 
position 


| 

CD 
















to 

1 
















— - - 

ma 

O <D 
i 
















d 

<-f- tl 
















d 

•1 
















9 S 

g.3 
p.p 
<i> «<i 
















*3§8 

xpBB 



48 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 



IV — METHODS 

Corrections 

Cleanliness 

Courtesy 

Recitations 



and management. Correlation of Subjects. 
Seat work F astnres 

Order Spirit 

Speed Adherence to schedule 

Care of supplies Previous surest: :r.s 



Non — Estimates and criticisms are necessarily more or less casual. 
You will be doing a favor by calling attention to any comment that 
seems over hasty and unfair. 

Visit to School. Date Teacher 

I — APPEARANCE AND PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF THE SCHOOL. 



Grounds — Neat, free 
from sticks and ref- 
use. 

Lavatc ry — Sanitary, 
clean and attractive, 
Always water, soap, 
towels. 



Sn 
Sweeping 

used. 



-Well done, 
compound 



Temperature — Never 
above 72 nor below 

65. 



Flag — Flying daily. 
Down by sunset. 

En t ■' v — Attractive. 
Garments in order. 

Dusting — Thorough 

Cloth dampened with 
oil or polish. 

on — Lack not 
noticeable on entering. 
All windows open 
right amount. 



C'.:se:s — Absolutely 

clean. Sanded and in- 
spected daily. 

Waste and fuel — Neat. 
No fire hazard. 

Decoration — Simple. 
effective. Paper pic- 
tures, specimens, etc. 
Frequently changed. 

Sealing — Seats ad- 
justed. Blocks for 
feet of others. 



: and Calisihenic Exercises — In class short, brisk interesting, 
four times daily. Supervised playgrounds. Happy and orderly. 

II — ATTENDANCE AND OTHER DATA. 



Register- — Marked at 
opening of session. 
Neat, up-to-date, ac- 
curate. 



Absence — Less than 

3%. Excuses required. 



Tardiness — Less than 
one a pupil per term. 



Program — Correct as Plan book — Workout- 
to time allotment and 
t cards — Marked order of subjects. 

fairly, with average 
requirements of grade 
in mind as a standard. 



lined 


in 


advance 


dailv. 


P 


r g r e s s 


clearly 


1 n 


d i c a t ed 


Course 


of 


study fol- 


lowed. 







SCHOOL ECONOMIES 



49 



Other Reports — Registration cards, medical inspection cards, dupli- 
cates of report card marks, monthly reports, etc., kept as required. 

Ill — SCHOLASTIC WORK AND ADVANCEMENT OF PUPILS. 



General writing — On 
all papers neat. 

Applied drawing — 
Plenty in comp., 
geog., hist., arith, na- 
ture, etc. 

Oral reproduction — 
Fluent and spirited in 
story telling, descrip- 
tion, etc. 



Writing lessons — Ac- 
cording to system. 



General 
Good i 
work. 



s p ell in g — 
1 all written 



Drawing lessons . — 
Good, following 
course of study. 

Spelling lessons — 
Good showing. 



Memorized poems — Dictation — Good 
Good showing in suits, 
amount. Intelligent 
and pleasing render- 
ing. 



is 
















Motivlzed activity and 
project! for out:. id(i work 

Pupils doing more than the 

required amount Good 
diaries, poeme, storion, lct- 
tera, etc 

Lively demand for outaldc 
reading 

(Jood work with arithmel 10, 

gamee, puzzles and toy 
hue. Pupila earning mon 

ey. Hank aCCOUntl 


(Jood OUtaide reading, home 

map modelling and oorrea 
pondenoe 


(Jood OUtaide reading. Sou- 
venir exchange 



a 

X 

a 



s * 
S = 

- - 

- — 

= - 

2 i 

S = 

r r 


Outalde reading] Hinging, 

playing, (Ciioral society. 
Talking machine borrowed 


s 


(Jood OTal work before 

wrltteni Drill on 

needed correct lonn 

New words well ta light 
(Jood phonic drill. No 

uaeloaa repetition 


Much rapid drill from 

carda and iheeta, No 

lo.ii. time 

Frequent review, quia 
■ea and gamea 

Same 

Same 


(Jood Hlght-Hinging ; 
rapid work with per- 
ception cards 


> B 2 E © «- x g c * - • =3 ""-£ 

5 "3 ° fc s u-= | t- c S o e ^ £ ► -a 
-* ■* Z^ S5 §5.2 > .S* §^e 

« = r -^ B = " - - • ~~ c **Z c ® ■ * 
S S r § - .- x £ 2 .. = ? - H ^ ^ !E 1 1 r 

9 rr~ x t § S "c c^Z^"^= fg'c > ^ £ x 

S 539 oo Be* ^1" - r ^iS s=^ = 


Preeenta- 

tlon 
Clear, Impre:; 

live 


• *2 m '- u 

>- ■ o. - 

*&■? = i 
§ 1 2 s - > -- 

y: — at cj ^- w- 


■ 

g 

■ 



= 

02 


c 

9 

«ei 

a 

r — 


X 

Eg 

C X 


I<Ja:;y, tdeady | 

plenty or new 
material 

Plenty of new 

material cov 
ered 

Very gradual. 
Frequent re- 
view 

Steady. Follows 

oourae 

Same 
Ha me 

Plenty of new 

material cov- 
er cd 


1 

CO 


letter 
writing 
and 
compo- 
sition 


1 

9 

\ z 


Arith- 
metic 


M 


it 
= 5 


1 O 

t a 
£ 

32 


s 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 



5* 



IV — methods and management. Correlation of Subjects Evident 

in Many Lines. 



Corrections — M i s- 
takes in papers and 
recitations not neg- 
lected. 

Cleanliness — Evident 
in hands, faces and 
materials. 

Courtesy — Apparent 
in relations to teach- 
er, mates and visitors. 



Seat work — Every- Postures — In sitting 
body profitably em- and standing, health- 
ployed the while. ful and manly. 



Order — Workmanlike 
spirit — No unnatural 
constraint and yet no 
wasteful disorder. 

Speed — Brisk and 
snappy. No useless 
waits. 



Spirit — Good natured, 
earnest, helpful. 

Adherence to schedule 
— Everything on time. 
Plans and program 
followed absolutely. 



Recitations — Full, natural, interesting. Pupils address rest of class. 
Teacher does less than half of the talking. 

Care of Supplies — Writing shows clean ink wells ; paper cut to 
fit amount of work ; no scrawls on books, desks, etc. ; loose papers 
in envelopes, not in books ; very little crushed waste paper. 

Previous Suggestions — Corrected at the next visit. 

Note — Estimates and criticisms are necessarily more or less cas- 
ual. You will be doing a favor by calling attention to any comment 
that seems over hasty and unfair. 



FINDING GOOD TEACHERS 

In most cases it is easier to recognize the good work of 
capable teachers than to retain their services, and less diffi- 
cult to get rid of incompetents than to find better ones to 
take their places. A few unfortunate experiences in replac- 
ing teachers 

"Makes us rather bear those ills we have, 
Than fly to others that we know not of." 

The boards in the smaller places are particularly at a 
disadvantage. Low salaries and poor living conditions, 
many grades and much exposure (not alone to the weather) 
make town positions look attractive to the rural teacher in 
comparison with his own. In the cities there is a lively de- 
mand for teachers of proved ability. It is folly to attempt 
to put any obstacles in the way of a teacher's promotion. 
In justice to him, and as a matter of policy as well, it is 
better to make a virtue of necessity. If a teacher's services 
command a higher salary than his present employers can 
afford to pay, let them rejoice in the extra value they have 
already received, and turn his success and the help they 
can give him to good account as an incentive to his suc- 
cessor. The smaller places must serve as feeders for the 
larger ones. Young teachers and short-termers will be the 
rule rather than the exception. The country districts cannot 
afiford to pay as much for a school of 8 children as the city 
school pays for a teacher of 40. Of the two, a series of 
short administrations by live teachers is better than a long 
administration by a dead one. 

A great problem of the country board, therefore, is to get 
in touch with a great many low priced teachers and from 
these select the ones that bid fair to give the best returns 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 53 

for the salaries offered. The country board has usually been 
sadly limited in this regard, their choice being restricted to 
a number of local candidates of indifferent preparation and 
a few left-overs who happened to write in from outside. 
Occasionally a local candidate proves to be a treasure, supe- 
rior in every way to any outside applicant; but as a rule 
home talent would better be avoided. Outside candidates 
are likely to take their work more seriously, and to depend 
more upon themselves in emergencies than upon their 
friends' powers of outcry, to save them. Psychoanalysis shows 
that individuals who have not felt or have not responded 
to the natural instinct of adolescence to get away fram 
childish surroundings, to cut the parental apron strings, as it 
were, and make an independent place for themselves in the 
world, remain at a more infantile level so far as character 
development is concerned. The validity of this fact as it 
affects teachers must be apparent to one who has had an op- 
portunity for extensive observations of both groups. More- 
over, educational life, like any other kind demands a certain 
amount of cross fertilization to produce healthy growth. A 
stranger is certain to bring new ideas that will be whole- 
some for any, especially an isolated, community. 

The chief reliance of the board will have to be in an agency 
outside of themselves to cover the field thoroughly, and 
have just the right candidate at hand when the need arises. 
The commercial agencies are a help. The majority undoubt- 
edly try to do a useful and legitimate business. But their 
patronage by candidates for rural schools is very limited, and 
the fees, while nominally paid by the teachers, in the long 
run must come out of the school treasury. There is a fed- 
eral teachers' employment bureau, recently organized, con- 



54 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

nected with the Department of Education. Washington, and 
a number o: state bureaus that attempt to find teachers 
without charge either to the teachers or :: the i:s:r:c:s. 
5 Mnc : : these, Dotal ly flic 1 lassachusetts and the Minnesota 
ins, ire very successful, but unfortunately their can- 
tes, like those :: the agencies, are not usually seekirto 
the kind :: position that is so hard :: fill, namely the low 
price place in country schools. 

It is :: be hoped that the country will so:n awake to the 
:: natio: hrs: in attracting oesiracle young men 

loi women from ::her Gelds outside the schoolroom, where 
Future leaders can have had some practical contact with 
the outside life for which, presumably, they are attempting 
to prepare others: sec:::i. short intensive courses in te 
ing — hire or and :: the point — that will do for the teachers 
in th the training camps did for the officers 

.: the army; and finally the financial aid necessary to pay 
men and women of superior mind and character ::::re near- 
ly what they are worth for a public service of inestimable 
value. 

Eut great bodies move slowly. While awaiting a general 
millennium, a good leal can be hone on a small scale, if one 
is willing to exert himself. It is easily possible for a number 
of boards :; keep in touch supply :: teachers, ob- 

taining authoritative estimates :: each one's ability at very 
little expense by dubbing together, pooling their applica- 
tions and manag ing a bureau of their own, as was done by 
20 towns in Southern New H re under the direction of 

writer. 



AN EXPERIMENT IN THE COOPERATIVE REG- 
ISTRY OF TEACHER 

The first step in the project was to direct the following 
circular letter to individual members of the school boards 
in three counties: 
Member of the School Board: 

Dear Sir or Madam: 

This letter is written in the hope of interesting you in a 
(movement to establish a free teachers' registry in this 
vicinity. 

This registry will undertake to collect and keep at 
your disposal complete, up-to-date information about desir- 
able candidates for vacancies that may occur in your district. 
It will enable teachers looking for positions to get them 
without being obliged to pay the 5% or 7% commission 
asked by the teachers' agencies. 

Briefly, the plan is this: — To invite as many teachers 
as possible to register with us ; to privide that they shall 
keep us informed as to their availability, so as always to 
have a list of teachers ready to accept positions ; to investigate 
their references carefully, through letters of inquiry like 
the sample enclosed ; to have all this information instantly 
at your service whenever you may need it. 

The only cost will be your town's small proportion for 
postage and stationery, and perhaps later for clerical work 
and advertising if the growth of the business and the 
number of towns entering make that necessary. Nobody has 
anything to gain except the towns and the teachers. There is 
nothing to lose, for care will be taken not to disturb teach- 
ers already at work within the district. 



56 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

Does the plan look attractive ? 

Will it not solve one of your most perplexing problems? 

Think what it will mean to committees not to be limited 
to the few candidates who happen to apply in their par- 
ticular locality, or whom they have heard somebody mention. 

Think what it will mean to teachers not to be obliged to 
pay a large percentage of their salaries — a very large per- 
centage of their net savings — simply to learn about positions. 

Think what it will mean to have first hand, disinterested 
information as to each candidate's qualifications. 

If you believe, with many other boards and superintend- 
ents in this vicinity, that such an agency will be a notable 
step forward, toward better schools and better service, 
will you not let us count your town in as a part of the 
Southern Xew Hampshire Teachers' Registry? 

Let us hear from you anyway. 

Reply card enclosed. 

Enclosed with the circular were samples of the registra- 
tion and inquiry sheets, that committees might know just 
what information the Registry undertook to get together. 



has registered with us and applied for a position as teacher. 
We desire to get as fair and accurate an estimate as pos- 
sible of each candidate's character and ability, and hope that 
you can help us. If you will kindly fill out the following 
blank and return it in the enclosed envelope as soon as con- 
venient, it will be a favor we shall appreciate. Replies are 
confidential. 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 57 

I have know the above named candidate years. 

As one of your students, teachers, or in what re' .... 

Physique 

Disposition 

Popularity 

Industry* Scholarship 

Mental alertness Moral character 

Special accomplishments 

Do you estimate that the candidate would be strong, medium. 

or weak in discipline ? 

Do you know of anything that you suspect would interfere 

with the candidate's success as a teacher?- 

Remarks and signature 



SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE TEACHERS' REGISTRY 
I agree to keep the registry informed promptly whenever I change 

address or accept position. Signed 

Telephone addre-- 

Mail address 

Space for 

Changed address 

Age Weight Height Health 

Married Church preference 

EDUCATION : 

Dates: Institution: Course taken : Principal'- name 



58 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 



In the following list draw a line through subjects you have never 
studied. Give approximate length of courses you have had in the 
other subjects above the common school: 

Agriculture Elocution Hist, of Eng. . . . Pedagogy 

Algebra French Hist, of U. S Physics 

Arithmetic Geography Hist, of other Physiology 

Astronomy Geology countries Psychology 

Bookkeeping . . .Geometry Instrumental Rhetoric 

Botany German music Stenography .... 

Calisthenics . . . .Grammar Latin Typewriting 

Chemistry Greek Literature Vocal music 

Composition . . . .Hist., Ancient. . .Mineralogy Zoology 

Drawing Hist, of Educa.. . Painting Additional 

Indicate briefly what special training or experience you have 
had in teaching or directing the following: 

Playground activities 

Domestic science or manual training 

Vocal music 

Business penmanship 

What certificates do you hold ? 

Salary expected by week or year 

On the other side give complete list of positions you have held, 
with dates, location, character of work, salary, and name of super- 
intendent or committee. Add the names of any others who are ac- 
quainted with your character and ability. Photograph desirable. 

These circulars were sent to 85 boards. Favorable re- 
plies were returned by individuals from 30 of them. Later 
20 sent written agreements, offering to divide the expense 
among the several boards in proportion to the number of 
schools maintained by each. Provision was made that this 
expense should never run till it was more than the pro- 
portion of 25 cents per school. 

The work began in March, 1913, and was continued till 
September, 1914, when I left the state. In January, 1914, 
when the first report was sent out, and the first money 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 59 



called for, the registry had enrolled 94 elementary and 23 
high school teachers, sent out 238 inquiries concerning them, 
placed 25 elementary and 4 high school teachers, whose sal- 
aries amounted to 10,000 dollars. A 5% fee on this, col- 
lected by agencies, would have been $505. The entire ex- 
pense of the registry, including all the preliminary corres- 
pondence was $28.19, less than 3-10 of 1% of the principal. 
In August the registration had been increased to 228, and 
the number placed more than doubled. The entire ex- 
pense had been $50.60, or if we subtract the $20 I re- 
ceived from a commercial agency for the papers of candi- 
dates on hand in September, $30.60, less than 10% of the 
agency fees that would otherwise have been due in my own 
district, not to mention the help given to neighboring com- 
mittees. The total time spent, including printing and mail- 
ing of weekly lists of candidates and positions to com- 
mittees and teachers during the busy season had not aver- 
aged imore than 20 minutes per day for the entire period, — 
not an extraordinary amount of time for a superintendent 
to spend simply in filling the vacancies in his own system. 



SUPERVISION 



are ■■ ; 



i . 



study ± 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 6l 



to say, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many 
years ; take thine ease." Then it is that they are in for the 
rude awakening: "This day shall thy soul be required of 
thee!" 

Unquestionably the soul element is the most important 
feature of anything so human as teaching. Any administra- 
tor who does not recognize the supreme importance of inner 
growth, spontaneity, individual differences will be found 
wanting. It is a lack of nurture and care, a failure to 
take into account the great personal equation in the teacher's 
art which has created so imuch discontent and dissatisfaction 
and resulted in such a feeling of opposition to supervision 
among teachers of the rank and file. 

A recent bulletin of the St. Paul Grade Teachers' Asso- 
ciation is prefaced: — "We, the teachers of this broad land, 
who are the mute recipients of so much wisdom from the 
mighty, find, now and then, rising in our American trained 
hearts, a desire to advise our advisers ; therefore we have 
devoted this issue of the Bulletin to the "gentle art" of 
supervising." 

Then follow twelve small pages of wholesome material, 
original and selected, ending with the clause: "And just so 
far as any supervisor fails to give true help to any teacher 
under her charge — just so far may be the measure of her 
failure." 

"True help!" what is it? Is it to take all the planning 
and constructive thinking to oneself and leave only the 
drudgery of execution to another? Evidently this docs not 
harmonize with the avowed American training of the St. 
Paul sisterhood. Probably "in this broad land" it is more 
or less of a failure everywhere. Most of our people prefer 



62 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

to live in democratic organizations where they can feel the 
effects of their own -mistakes and successes, rather than 
ride supinely on the back of an autocracy, however provi- 
dent and efficient, and miss the chief joy of life, which lies 
in the opportunity to work off the energetic, restless, crea- 
tive desires of one's nature by action in a world that is real. 
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness loom large in any 
scheme of government that is democratic. 

But the chief advantage of living in any scheme of 
democratic government lies not so much, perhaps, in the fun 
of having a finger in the pie as in the fact that a wide- 
awake, intelligent democracy is more effective. Given a 
group of people who are agreed upon what they want and 
who are able to make themselves understood, then the more 
individuals and plans there are to choose from, the greater 
the probability of finding those that will succeed. Auto- 
cratic power is often more prompt than democratic, but by 
no means more efficient in the end. Granted that an auto- 
cratic leader may represent the pinnacle of all-round wis- 
dom; granted that a miracle has happened and we have 
found a quick hitter who is also a deep thinker, and have 
made him supreme. His general score of proficiency is 
higher than all others ; he is near the top in many things ; 
in some few he outdoes everybody, yet in a few respects 
is he not bound to be inferior to others? Somebody can 
reach farther, or add quicker or crawl through a smaller 
hole. Even a half-witted creature, helpless with rheumatism, 
will be a better prophet of coming storms. In their fields 
each specialist is supreme, and to make them give way in 
every case to him, not only galls them and produces demor- 
alization of spirit, but cheats the group out of the more 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 63 

competent handling of the case. An ideal of democracy has 
been stated: "Whosoever will be great among you shall 
be your minister; and whosoever will be chiefest, shall be 
servant of all." Democracy respects one who aspires to be 
a leader, but it cannot abide one who insists upon being the 
whole show. 

The value of democracy and of a training for democracy 
among the pupils in the classroom is beginning to be felt in a 
movement to motivate the work and to socialize the recita- 
tion. It seems never to have occurred to the old time master 
that the pupils might, now and then, have been able to sug- 
gest something more interesting and even more profitable 
than even he could invent. He felt that it would indicate 
weakness to tolerate, much less to encourage advice and as- 
sistance on the part of underlings. Their part was fin- 
ished when they did as they were told. Now we are stead- 
ily learning to turn to better account the individual initiative 
and the collective good sense that even little children display ; 
to the end, not only that they may have the pleasure and inner 
growth that comes from making and executing their own 
decisions, wherever possible, but that the course of study 
and the imethod of the recitation may be enriched by ma- 
terial that children alone of all people are able to supply. 

It requires, of course, rather unusual breadth of mind and 
discernment in a teacher to be able to find genuine worth in 
the work of those who are, in general, so much below him in 
skill and experience. It requqires even rarer qualities of 
character to be willing to sacrifice one's own desire to lead, 
to talk, to work out pet ideas, and instead, give the prefer- 
ence to some one of the learners, whose projects are barely 
as good as the ones he himself has originated. It is a good 



64 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

deal to ask of a fond parent that he choke his own intel- 
lectual offspring and give their place to a lot of unkept 
foundlings, however lusty some of them promise to be. But 
recent developments in the teaching ar: seem to indicate 
that a teacher who is a sufficient master of himself to be 
able to democratize schoolroom procedure, who provides 
for pupils initiative, growth, and satisfaction even in prefer- 
ence to personal satisfaction of his own, has hit upon a 
pedagogical principle unmatched since the days when old 
Socrates demonstrated that no conclusions are effective un- 
less the learner does the thinking for himself. 

And all of additional value that can be accomplished by 
the teacher who is keen to secure self activity and coopera- 
::::. of the pupils can be accomplished by the supervisor who 
is alert to make use of the same spirit among his teachers. 
And far more can be secured, for the differences in judg- 
ment and ability between supervisor and teacher are negli- 
gible, as compared with those between teacher and class. 
If pupils, now and then, prove to have plans, choices and 
subject matter as good as or superior to the teacher's, how 
much more often has the teacher some element to suggest 
that will be superior to the supervisor's. 

A teacher told me yesterday of an interview with her 
"ing supervisor. This supervisor is very artistic, gets 
axkable results, has a magnificent yearly exhibit. Most 
of me teachers, however, hate the work, and the pupils 
do only as much as they are forced to do in the schoolroom. 
The supervisor instructed the teacher to give the making 
of a poster advertising a flower sale for the next an lesson. 

"But."' the teacher objected — she was very young and 
did not know anv better — "this class has no flowers for sale. 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 65 

May we not make some other kinds of posters that we could 
give to the storekeepers of the neighborhood, or something 
else of practical value?" 

The supervisor raised her eyebrows, pursed her mouth a 
little and answered coldly, "All the 4A teachers in this sys- 
tem are making flower posters." 

The young teacher who had had an idea, drew in her horns 
and stuck her head into the yoke with the rest of the cattle. 
Like many others, she is a very artistic supervisor in every- 
thing but supervision. 

The art of successful supervision is, of course, unique, 
and yet there are strong analogies between it and other per- 
suasive callings. It has points of resemblance to the art of 
salesmanship. There are salesmen, of course, who know 
ways to inveigle customers into subscribing for things 
they do not want, and then trusting to the sheriff to make 
the deal effective. This, however, is considered poor sales- 
manship in the long run. The good salesman knows that 
his customer's confidence, justified and unshakeable, is the 
biggest single asset in his business; and that such a con- 
fidence can be gained only by a rather searching study of his 
needs, a very adroit handling of his prejudices, and an un- 
failing record for delivering the goods. 

There are little traits of character that must be reckoned 
with in both salesmanship and supervision and one is ego- 
tism. A very successful writer on salesmanship says, "If 
for any reason I wished to impress a man with the true 
glory of Niagara Falls, I would contrive to have a picture 
taken of the falls, with the man himself showing large in 
the immediate foreground, and then give him a copy of the 
picture to study and admire." The moral is that we are 



66 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

all so constituted that we want to see ourselves in the 
picture somewhere, if we are to take any very vital interest 
in the surroundings. Teachers are no exception to the rule. 
As much as possible of thmeslves, their own inspirations, 
ambitions and affections, have got to be, somehow or other, 
woven round that job of teaching school before the work 
can go on with verve and dash. If many teachers in 
isolated spots, with no help and the crudest apparatus, are 
working themselves to the bone for a mere pittance, w r hile 
many more in big systems, at good salaries and w T ith every- 
thing provided, can only be got to yield a grudging minimum 
of half-heated service, the explanation can be found in the 
fact that one group has identified their own ambitions and 
satisfactions with the work itself, while the others see in 
the work only so much annoyance and confinement for so 
much money. A changed attitude is one of those things that 
can sometimes be caught in a properly baited trap, but it 
eludes those who go after it with a gun. The bait used will 
depend somewhat upon the game sought. One thing is cer- 
tain ; it will not be got solely by the bitter pill. 

The St. Paul poet in the Bulletin mentioned above, is very 
modest in what she asks of "That Supervisor:" 

"Oh, woe," she cried, " 'tis surely true 
We are but grown-up children, too. 

A kindly glance — a smile or so, 
A word of praise goes far, I know." 

Little kindly human attentions once in a while have their 

effect, if only good wishes on a picture postcard. 

Another page in the Bulletin points a moral from the 

fable of a Roman general who rebuilt a habit of success in 

his beaten army by beginning again with easy victories. 

"Teachers rarely build success upon a sense of defeat — " it 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 67 

says, "rather they build success upon a sense of success." 
A teacher who can get his class to a point where they can 
do one thing in a superior manner has given the supervisor 
a priceless opportunity to give merited praise, to bring visi- 
tors to see the work, to write up the idea for the press, 
and in every possible way to build up a righteous sense of 
pride and satisfaction so that it will become a habit to go 
on earning imore and more. 

The pride and satisfaction that the teachers take in the 
system as a whole are likely to be measured by the individual 
contributions they have been allowed to make to the system. 
And democratizing the system so as to make use of all the 
good ideas from the ranks is not simply a bait thrown to 
the mass to keep them contented, but a measure of solid 
efficiency. The revision of a course of study becomes an ad- 
mirable project for the whole teaching force to work upon. 
If for no other reason than to get the teachers to thinking, 
studying, experimenting, it would pay to let the teachers 
have a responsible part in the making of curricula. Here is 
a specific purpose for holding meetings, for gathering data, 
for weighing values and for using the results of the work. 
The teachers have read, talked and learned things for 
themselves, and the result, like the Baltimore county course 
of study, is a very superior piece of work. 

Likewise the selection of text-books can be made the 
means broadening the teachers' equipment, improving the 
selection, but more than all, giving the teachers a personal 
interest in their own work. I see no reason why the mak- 
ing of a budget and the award of bids could not be in some 
measure decided by those who have to use the material ; nor 
in many cases why the choice of janitors, assistants and 



68 SCHOOL economies 

possibly of colleagues could not be partly decided by a 
democratic vote. It would be hard to think of a case where 
a lowering efficiency would be the effect of such a course. 
Doubtless the construction and selection of cards and meth- 
ods for scoring and rating could also be put on a more 
cooperative basis with good effect. 

Of course democracy in supervision is not the panacea 
for all the ills of school life There remains the irreducible 
minimum of the immoral, the constitutionally lazy, the men- 
tally effete. Psychology, theoretical or practical, does not 
show how everybody can be altogether remade. 

For all the evils we endure, 

Either there is, or isn't a cure. 

If there is a cure, let's try to find it. 

If there isn't a cure, then never mind it. 

The cureless situations in education must either be elim- 
inated with as little outcry as possible or else let alone. If 
there are teachers who by rights should be addressing en- 
velopes or watching sheep or digging graves, poor things, 
and they are irrevocably wished upon the schools, the rule 
of helpfulness still holds. 

I remember a good lesson I learned in my early days as 
supervisor in a scattered section of Vermont. A little 
school of a dozen pupils was taught by an old lady, a good, 
motherly soul, but with the dreadful teaching methods of a 
hundred years ago. I usually stayed with her a half day, 
and ate my lunch with her at noon, and being ambitious, 
talked volubly on the principles of teaching with the hope 
of giving her a better conception of modern education. But 
in spite of all I said about expressive reading, or illustrated 



SCHOOL ECONOMIES 69 

arithmetic or written spelling, and in spite of all the illus- 
trative lessons taught for her benefit, she continued to teach 
the same old stuff in the same way. One day during a pause 
in my peroration she remarked cordially, "Well, I'm glad 
to see ye. Your visits do me lots o' good. I love to hear 
ye talk!" 

When I had recovered sufficiently I said, "I appreciate that 

compliment, Mrs. A , I really do. But now in the few 

minutes that are left, is there not something I can do that 
will be of real help in the work of the school ?" 

"Wal, naow," she answered briskly, "if you really feel 
like workin', I wish you'd work some o' them examples in 
the back o' Raub's arithmetic. I never knew how some o' 
them was done." 

I tackled an atrocious problem about how many 16 ft. 
boards in a fence around a square field of such a size that the 
number of acres equalled the number of boards. It was a 
terribly old-fashioned problem, and I hated to see it in- 
flicted upon the school, but it satisfied an ambition of the 
old lady when, for the first time in her life she could teach 
it, and it certainly strengthened her in the opinion of the 
upper grade. Best of all, it got her into the habit of seeking 
help from the supervisor when she needed it, and not simply 
trying to enjoy the supervisor's talk. A supervisor is cer- 
tainly working at a big advantage when he can give help in 
response to a felt need. 

Any discussion of democracy in education must suggest 
John Dewey. In his great book, "Democracy and Educa- 
tion," Dewey's criterion of the worth of any society, ethically 
or educationally is summed up in the questions, "How nu- 



JO SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

merous and varied are the interests which are consciously 
shared ? How full and free is the interplay with other forms 
of association?" 

Applied to the school organization the questions become: 
How much more does the teacher see in the supervisor than 
one of the snags that lie between her and her monthly 
salary? How much more does the supervisor see in the 
teacher than merely a means of putting his own particular 
ideas into operation? How well do they understand each 
other and the community for which they work? How full 
and free are their means of communication, each with the 
others? If each looks upon the others as mutual friends and 
confidants, sources of inspiration and appreciative criticism, 
means of doing more things more easily and with more satis- 
faction than they could possibly do alone, their joint product 
will be something infinitely better than the hostile, buck 
passing disaffection too often apparent in organization of 
the strait-laced, militaristic type. Blessed be the tie that 
binds. It is not red tape, nor any mechanical binder, how- 
ever elaborate ; but as Dewey says, "A society which makes 
provision for participation in its good of all its members 
on equal terms, which secures flexible readjustment of its 
institutions through interaction through the different forms 
of associated life, . . . and which gives individuals a 
personal interest in social relationships and control, and 
habits of mind which secure social changes without intro- 
ducing disorder." 



PARENTS' ASSOCIATIONS 

All of which leads to the conclusion that democracy in 
education cannot be limited to the teachers or even the 
pupils. The public must be taken into confidence, too. The 
people as a whole must be educated to work together and 
work with the board and their appointees to strive heartily 
toward general improvement. 

No matter how much power a machine may develop, 
unless the friction can be reduced to a minimum, there is 
bound to be trouble. While misunderstanding and criticism 
are rife in a neighborhood, the schools, no matter how good, 
fail to accomplish what they might, unless the better ele- 
ment can be organized to control them. 

In this respect the school management are in somewhat the 
same position as the boy in the story who went out to ride 
with his grandmother. The boy drove the old horse along 
till he came to a narrow place in the road and met an auto- 
mobile. The horse began to prance a little, whereupon the 
old lady, violently excited, got out, screaming and gesticu- 
lating. The chauffeur stopped the car at a safe distance 
and came forward to the boy's assistance. 

"Shall I lead the horse ?" he inquired. 

"No!" the boy answered. "I can manage the horse all 
right. You lead grandma." 

Conducting a school system is a comparatively simple mat- 
ter when the excitable grandmothers, male and female, can 
be coaxed along and kept reasonable. 

For these reasons a parent teacher association is almost 
indispensable. School board, parents and teachers all need 
to get together to exchange views and to see matters more 
and more from each other's standpoint and from the stand- 
point of the leaders in the work. 



J2 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 

It is not a hard matter to conduct informal meetings once 
a term or once a month, sometimes at the school house to 
observe some of the regular work perhaps, sometimes in the 
evening at any convenient gathering place. State associa- 
tions of the different states offer useful suggestions. Many 
speakers with a real message can be got without expense. 
There is usually some musical talent available to add inter- 
est to the program. A question box is a method of bring- 
ing up live topics for discussion. Reports of visits to fine 
schools elsewhere are interesting and inspiring. But the 
discussion should be brought round as often as possible to 
the question, "What can we do to improve conditions here?" 
In the ranks of such an organization there will always be 
found sofme few, at least, earnest, intelligent people who 
will set themselves to the task of carrying improvements 
through. 

It is true that the work presents problems that are not 
always agreeable. A hundred details need attention. So- 
and so's boy must be prodded into building fires earlier and 
sweeping floors cleaner. Such-a-one's daughter needs to 
be ousted and replaced by some competent person that un- 
derstands teaching. Slack labor, overcharges, and faulty 
material come in for just treatment and alas ! consequent bit- 
terness. The enemies made may be loud in their condem- 
nation, and friends faint in their praise. Yet there is an 
inward satisfaction in being able to render a public service, 
and the public, sooner or later, are bound to appreciate. It 
is this satisfaction that really pays for the work and the 
sacrifice and the effort to steer a course toward better 
schools with the patience of Job and the wisdom of Solomon. 



v/uiiwncoo 



021 731 577 3 



